Knowing the late Karl Lagerfeld’s passion for new technology, the brand’s creative director Hun Kim did not hesitate to engage with Joann, an Armenian artist who specializes in AI-generated design and is perhaps best known for inflatable monuments.
Among looks Joann’s learned machines spat out: A white shirtdress with rows of collar-like protrusions, the bodice caged in black leather trim. Kim and his team were able to translate such AI designs into IRL for a capsule grouping that’s part of the spring 2025 collection.
Kim’s own intelligence led him to transpose a shirt collar as a foldover waist on a full-circle skirt — or as tiered ruffles on shirt sleeves — and to execute much of the collection in black and white, knowing that graphic combo goes to the core of Lagerfeld’s DNA and personal style, and what customers demand from the brand.
“I think that’s a win-win situation,” Kim commented during a walk-through at the brand’s Left Bank showroom.
The designer relied less on direct archival references this season, and worked out some looks on miniature dress forms: whorling a floral-like shape into a satin-backed crepe skirt, and draping cotton into a built-in on a white shirt.
Kim also folded in a “city safari” theme, which meant tan and olive looks with utility details, but sleek and crisp, as in a shirtdress with a storm flap and back vent, details borrowed from the trenchcoat, or cargo pants in a lustrous viscose mix.
The more dressed-up, formal mood carried over into the menswear, hinged on tuxedo tailoring, jacquard dinner jackets and layered black-and-white zippered blousons. The look was real, and sharp.
